Automotive electric socket



H. LAPIDUS AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRIC SOCKET Oct. 23, 1962 Filed Sept. 30, 1960 mm HII] Hl 1mm INVENTOR. I k/AQO ZAP/D06 BY 43cm", ma

iJnite rates Patent 3,060,293 AUTGMOTIVE ELECTRIC SOCKET Howard Lapidus, Plainview, N.Y., assignor to US. Metal Products Company, Inc., Brooklyn, N. a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 3t 1960, Ser. No. 59,541 4 Claims. (ill. 200-133) This invention relates to an automotive electric socket. In particular my invention pertains to an electric socket for use in connection with an automotive lighting circuit, and, specifically, for use in connection with that portion of the lighting circuit including a flasher, i.e. a means to intermittently supply power to a light bulb.

Flashers customarily are employed today for signaling. For example, they are incorporated in automotive lighting circuits to blink a light under the control of a turn signaling device. A standard flasher is housed in a can that is provided with bayonet contact prongs that are adapted to be inserted in a socket which forms part of the electric lighting circuit. Moreover it is necessary to provide in the flasher path, a safety device to protect against overload and short circuit, i.e. a fuse. Like the flasher, the fuse must be replaceable and therefore needs a fuse socket. Hence, it now is conventional to find in an automotive lighting circuit two separate sockets, to wit, a flasher socket and a fuse socket. In the tens of millions of vehicles presently in use and in the millions of automotive vehicles currently being made these two sockets will be found. It will be appreciated that the provision of two separate sockets in so many vehicles represents a considerable expense and it further will be appreciated that the stocking, handling and wiring of said two sockets represents a considerable additional expense. Such expenses would be appreciably reduced if the two sockets were combined into one, thereby halving the number of sockets to be provided and simplifying the operations necessary to wire such a socket into an automotive circuit.

It is an object of the present invention to achieve the advantages thus indicated by providing a single combined socket which is adapted to detachab-ly receive both a standard flasher and a standard fuse.

It is another object of my invention to provide a single combined socket of the character described which is of simple and rugged construction, and can be easily and quickly wired into the electric lighting circuit of an automotive vehicle.

It is another object of my invention to provide a single combined socket of the character described which is adapted to receive various type and sizes of flashers and fuses, so that the number of sockets that have to be stocked can be substantially reduced.

It is another object of my invention to provide a single combined socket of the character described which permits easy mounting and demounting of both the flasher and the fuse.

It is another object of my invention to provide a single combined socket of the character described which reduces the wiring that must be done to set up an automotive lighting circuit, i.e. which performs part of the wiring on a mass production basis as an element of the combined socket thereby eliminating a wiring step in making a lighting harness.

It is another object of my invention to provide a combined socket of the character described which is compact, constitutes very few parts and is inexpensive to make.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of ice construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the combined socket hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a socket constructed in accordance with my invention, the fuse being shown mounted therein and the flasher being shown in exploded position;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the socket with the flasher and fuse removed;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken substantially along the lines 3--3 and 4-4 respectively of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a socket embodying a modified form of my invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1-4 the reference numeral 10 denotes a socket embodying my invention. Said socket is adapt-ed to be used in connection with a conventional flasher 12 and a conventional cartridge fuse 14.

Although the construction of both the flasher and the fuse are well known a short description of each will facilitate the understanding of my invention. The flasher 12 constitutes an external casing in the form of a cylindrical can 16 ordinarily made from aluminum and closed at its base by a disc of insulating material through which there extend plural bayonet contact prongs 18, 20, 22. Some flashers include three prongs as indicated, and some only two, the number of prongs depending upon the internal construction of any given flasher and the functions desired to be performed thereby. Inside of each can there is included a pair of make and break contacts which are adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with one another by a bimetallic strip on which one of the contacts is mounted. For the purposes of this invention it will suflice to known that when the contacts are closed a low resistance path is provided between two of the prongs, e.g. the prongs 18 and 20, and when the contacts are open a high resistance (or open) path will be provided between these two prongs so that if said two prongs are series connected with a lamp the lamp will blink, i.e. flash, at the rate at which the contacts open and close. The third prong 22, if present, may be used either to provide a steady current or to provide an alternate rate of pulsations, i.e. to pulse at the same rate as the first mentioned rate but out of phase therewith. As noted previously, the provision of the third prong is optional.

The cartridge fuse 14 constitutes a hollow sleeve 24 of electrically nonconductive material, e.g. glass, closed at opposite ends by caps 26 of electrically conductive material, e.g. copper or brass. A fuse link 28 of a low melt alloy having an intermediate portion of reduced cross-sectional area has its opposite ends electrically and physically connected to the two caps 26 so that the fuse may be put in circuit simply by providing electric connections to said caps.

My socket 10 includes a rectanguloid body 30 fabricated from any suitable electrically nonconductive material, preferably a synthetic plastic material, eg a phenol formaldehyde condensation resin, the socket being conveniently formed, for instance by molding. Said body 30 has in its plane top surface a downwardly extending deep well 32 with a closed bottom 34 in which a through aperture 36 is provided for passage of the shank of an attaching screw 38.

In addition the body is formed with three through top-to-bottom passageways 40 of identical shape so that the detailed description of any one of them will sufiice. Said three pasageways are elongated in transverse crosssection as can be seen in FIG. 2 and are so mutually arranged as to define, in eflect, three sides of a U. That is to say the longitudinal axes of the transverse crosssection of two of the passageways 40 are parallel to one another and the longitudinal axis of the transverse cross-section of the third passageway is perpendicular to the first two longitudinal axes, the first two passageways being transversely registered; the third passageway is adjacent a common pair of ends of the first two passageways and substantially spans the space therebetween.

Each through passageway 40 opens at the top surface of the body 30' as an elongated slot or mouth 42. Shortly below the mouth 42 the passageway abruptly widens out to form a pair of opposed shoulders 44 in the wide sides of the passageway. The passageway then continues downwardly to open at the plane bottom surface of the body and is uninterrupted except for two registered inwardly extending opposed protuberances 46 each of which is in the shape of a buttress tooth with its bottom faced sloped and its upper face horizontal, i.e. substantially perpendicular to the associated side of the passageway 40.

The body 30 further includes in one-piece therewith a fuse mounting portion 48 consisting of a protuberance, shelf or flange 50 which provides a surface 52 that may face upwardly, downwardly or laterally, or at any desired angle. Preferably, the surface 52, for convenience of use, is horizontal and faces upwardly, that is, is parallel to the top of the body and faces in the same direction. Said surface is of a generally elongated shape and is depressed, ie is at a level below the top surface of the body and, indeed, is only slightly above the level of the bottom surface of the body. The flange '50 may be interrupted intermediate its length by a cut-out or notch 54 thus breaking up the surface 52 into two end portions 56, 58. Desirably, the surface 52 may be protected by an erect guarding wall 60 in one-piece with the flange 50 and running around the periphery of said surface. Said guarding wall is interrupted at the cut-out 54 and is not provided adjacent the edge of the surface 52 next to the body 30 inasmuch as the side wall 61 of the body performs the same function in this vicinity as the guarding wall. Each end portion 56, 58 of the surface 52 is provided with a through aperture 62.

The socket in addition to the body 30, this being inclusive of the fuse mounting portion 48 constitutes electrical contacts, two types of electrical contacts being provided, one for the passageways 40 and the other for the flange 56.

The first type of electrical contact is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It comprises a female contact clip 64 adapted to detachably engage a male bayonet prong and consisting of a pair of arms 66, 68 integrally joined by a retroverted bend 70. The clip is formed from a strip of electrically conductive resilient material, e.g. Phosphor bronze, cut and bent to the desired shape. Each arm of the clip is shaped to include an outwardly protruding lug 72 that is adapted to engage the upper horizontal surface of an associated buttress tooth 46. The arms are inclined upwardly toward one another and the tips 74 of each arm are sloped outwardly to engage the associated shoulders 44. When unstressed the arms of each contact clip 64 will spring open to a position in which their tips are spaced apart further than the width of the mouth of the passageway 40. To position the clip its tips are squeezed together and inserted in the slot 42 until said tips clear the shoulders 44 and the protuberances 72 are above the buttress teeth 46. The clip then is released, whereupon its arms Will spring apart to permanently lock the clip in position. Retraction of the clip is prevented by abutment of the tips 74 against the shoulders 44 and further movement of the clip into the socket is prevented by abutment of the lugs 72 against the teeth 46,

Three female prong engaging contact clips may thus be inserted into the three passageways 40, or, if it is known that the socket 10 is to be used with a flasher can 12 which has only two bayonet prongs, contact clips are inserted only in those passageways which will receive such prongs.

Prior to inserting the female prong engaging contact clips it is preferable to effect certain electrical connections therewith. For example, it is conventional to connect the prong 20' of the flasher to a harness wire running to a lamp bulb, this ordinarily being accomplished by a multistrand flexible core having an insulating sheath. To make this connection I strip the insulation from a tip of a wire 75, leaving the exposed core 76 which is inserted into the contact clip adjacent the retroverted bend 18 and physically attached thereto as by solder before the clip is mounted in the passageway which is to receive the prong 20. For a reason which later will be apparent an uninsulated wire, e.g. a single strand wire 78 is physically and electrically connected to the clip which is to receive the prong 18 before this clip is inserted in its associated passageway. The portion of said wire 78 protruding from the clip is placed in a groove 88 formed on the bottom surface of the body 30. Said groove extends from the bottom of the associated passageway 40 beneath the flange '50 to the nearest aperture 62.

The second type of electrical contact is a conventional fuse engaging clip comprising a resilient yoke 82 consisting of a pair of upstanding legs 84 joined by a base 86 which is apertured in registry with an aperture 62. As in the case of the prong engaging clips 64, the fuse engaging clips are fabricated from a strip of electrically conductive resilient material such as Phosphor bronze. The tips of the legs 84 are outwardly sloped to facilitate their spreading when initially engaged by the end caps of a cartridge fuse. Said legs 84 are bowed outwardly to prehensilely grip the fuse caps 26.

The fuse engaging clips '82 are secured to the socket, i.e. to the flange 50, by rivets 88 which pass through the aperture 62, are headed below the flange 50 and also are headed above the bases 86. Said clips 82 are located at opposite ends of the surface 52 being spaced apart a proper distance to receive the cartridge fuse 14 which is designed to be used in conjunction with the flasher 12.

Prior to mounting of the fuse engaging clip 82 which is nearest to the clip 64 that is designed to engage the prong 18, the single strand wire 78 that is attached to said clip 64 is bent around the shank of the rivet 62 which is to hold the clip 82 in place and is physically and electrically connected thereto as by soldering. Thus when all of the prong engaging clips 64 and fuse engaging clips 82 are assembled in the body 30 there will be present a permanent electric connection between the clip designed to engage the prong 18 and the clip designed to engage an adjacent end of the cartridge 14, thereby simplifying assembly of the lighting harness.

Moreover I preferably attach the multi-strand flexible core 90 at the bare end of an insulated wire 92 to the other rivet 88 prior to mounting the second clip 82 in place so that when the socket 10 is marketed it will have.

two wires extending therefrom to wit, the wires 75 and 92 and also will have one internal connection to wit the wire 78.

A third wiring connection also may be supplied with the socket 10, this constituting a wire 94 Whose tip is stripped to expose the multi-strand core which is connected as by soldering to the third of the prong engaging clips 64.

Although the Wall 60' forms a desirable protective Well within which the cartridge fuse 14 is placed to prevent accidental shortcircuiting, it .is within the scope of my invention to eliminate a measure of this protection and obtain an additional function for the combined socket. Such an alternate form of my invention is shown in FIG. 5 wherein the reference numeral 189 denotes a modified socket which is essentially similar to the socket It} and differs therefrom only in the fuse mounting portion 48. Said fuse mounting portion does not include the longitudinal reaches of the wall 60, i.e. the reaches that run parallel to the length of the fuse cartridge. However it does have end reaches as. Moreover the clips 82 which are provided for engagement with a fuse cartridge are mounted on rivets 88 for rotation about axes spaced from the centers of the lengths of the clips; that is to say, the clips 82 are eccentrically mounted on the rivets 88'. This enables the relative spacing of the clips to be varied at will. If the clips are arranged as shown in FIG. 5 they will be closest to one another and thereby able to receive a short cartridge fuse. If one of the clips is turned 180 the clips will be able to receive a cartridge fuse of intermediate length and if both of the clips are turned 180 the clips will be able to receive a long cartridge fuse. It will be observed that it is by virtue of the removal of the longitudinal reaches of the wall 60 that the fuse engaging clips can be swung through 180 in the manner aforesaid.

An automotive electric socket embodying my invention almost halves the cost involved in providing the two closely associated functions, to wit, receiving a flasher and receiving a flasher fuse. If further materially simplifies the wiring of a harness to provide said two functions and effects a single mounting member for the two now integrated components (flasher and flasher fuse) whereby these components may be more easily and compactly located in an automobile.

It Will thus be seen that I have provided sockets in which the several objects of my invention are achieved, and which are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of my above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An automotive electric socket comprising a unitary body of electrically non-conductive material having three passageways therein, each being identical in shape, elongated in their transverse cross-sections, mutually arranged so that the longitudinal axes of the transverse cross-sections of two of the passageways are parallel to one another and the longitudinal axis of the transverse cross-section of the third passageway is perpendicular to the first two longitudinal axes, the first two passageways being spaced apart and transversely registered, the third passageway being adjacent to a common pair of ends of the first two passageways and substantially spanning the space therebetween, an electrically conductive contact clip in each passageway constructed to detachably engage the bayonet prongs of an automotive flasher, and constructed and arranged to combine a mechanical support for, and an electrical connection to such flasher said body further including a protuberant planar flange unitary therewith and having mounting means thereon, and a pair of further electrically conductive clips facing 3 in the same direction as the first named clips and secured to said flange by said mounting means and constructed to detachably engage the end caps of a flasher cartridge fuse.

2. An automotive electric socket comprising a unitary body of electrically non-conductive material having at least two passageways therein, an electrically conductive contact clip in each passageway constructed to detachably engage the bayonet prongs of an automotive flasher, said body further including a protuberant planar flange unitary therewith and having mounting means thereon, and a pair of further electrically conductive clips facing in the same direction as the first named clips and secured to said flange by said mounting means, said mounting means consisting of a rivet and an aperture in the base for each of said further clips, each of said further clips being constructed to detachably engage the end caps of a flasher cartridge fuse, an electric wire permanently connecting one prong engaging contact clip to one end cap engaging contact clip, said body being provided with a recessed canal in its undersurface running from the bottom surface of the body adjacent to one of the transversely elongated passageways to an aperture provided for one of said rivets, said canal being constructed and arranged to provide a passageway for said wire in which said electric wire is located.

3. An automotive electric socket comprising a unitary body of electrically non-conductive material having at least two passageways therein, electrically conductive contact clips secured in said passageways and constructed to detachably engage the bayonet prongs of an automotive flasher, a protruberant planar flange unitary therewith and extending away from said body, two further electrically conductive contact clips to detachably engage the end clips of a flasher cartridge fuse, and means mounting said further clips on said flange facing in the same direction as the first named clips, said flange being deeply notched between said further contact clips and having a unitary peripheral wall except at the notch, said notch being so configured as to allow opposed fingers of a human hand, grasping said fuse about its circumference, to readily engage and disengage the fuse from said further clips.

4. An automotive electric socket comprising a unitary body of electrically non-conductive material having at least two passageways therein, electrically conductive contact clips secured at said passageways and constructed to detachably engage the bayonet prongs of an automotive flasher, a protuberant planar flange integral with and extending away from said body, two further electrical conductive contact clips constructed to detachably engage the end clips of a flasher cartridge fuse, and means rotatable eccentrically mounting said two further contact clips on said flange facing in the same direction as the first named clips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

